Chapter 102

The war with the neighboring Kingdom of Portand had been locked in a long stalemate, but that balance had finally been shattered.

Romanburg, where the fighting was currently unfolding, was a vital strategic stronghold, and losing this city was something we had to avoid at all costs.

As for the Kingdom of Saxens, they wanted to somehow push the front line all the way back to the Neisel River, which marked the national border.

The Dresden First Supply Unit—that was the name of our newly assigned unit.

It was a unit of about a hundred soldiers.

Lady Clara was appointed as the unit commander.

Technically, her military rank would rise, making it a promotion, but since serving two months in the City Guard would have automatically made her a company commander anyway, one could say this just hurried things along slightly.

Our main mission was to transport supply goods from Saxens to a staging ground located just outside of Romanburg.

Hearing that we wouldn’t be sent directly to the absolute front lines, I felt relieved from the bottom of my heart.

“Even so, there is no telling when we might face an enemy ambush,” Lady Clara said, as if rebuking me for my blatant relief.

The staging ground was only about twenty kilometers away from Romanburg.

Although the units being reorganized were gathering at the base, it was by no means a completely safe zone.

With our departure scheduled in two days, those of us directly under Lady Clara’s command gathered to discuss our future strategy.

Emma, who was a knight apprentice, and her attendant, Hans, were also incorporated into the supply unit.

“Fiene, I want you to deliver a letter from me to Ebba-berg. My military service was supposed to last until August, but depending on the situation, my term might be extended.”

The possibility had arisen that she wouldn’t be able to return to her domain of Ebba-berg for a while.

Fiene was tasked with delivering the letter addressed to Egon, the house steward.

There was also a chance that letters regarding urgent matters might come from their side as well.

If I were to deliver the letter, I could set up a Portal, but Ebba-berg was simply too far away.

It would be time to depart before I could even make it there.

“Akito, you will remain here in the Royal Capital and serve as our liaison. Of course, you may also continue with the preparations for the shop.”

This was a request I had made to Lady Clara.

I had no intention of dragging Yoshioka to a war, and it was far more helpful to have him focus entirely on the setup in the Royal Capital.

Between the printing press, the shop renovations, purchasing interior goods, securing staff, and training them, there was a lot to do.

Since it pained me to dump everything onto Yoshioka, I told him not to push himself and to just do whatever he liked.

If possible, I wanted him to work together with Miss Bianca and Bach to do their best.

“Kota will serve by my side as my attendant.”

I bowed my head like a proper attendant.

Inside Lady Clara’s room, we compiled a shopping list.

I wanted to return to Japan once to finish our shopping before the supply unit departed.

Shopping Memo
Clips
Paper cutter
Spare ink
Wound medicine
Bandages
Triangular bandages
Antiseptic
Water (plastic bottles)
Food items
Binoculars
Portable shovels (a lot)

“Is there anything else?”

I paused my pen and asked for Yoshioka’s opinion.

“It might be a good idea to buy some five-toe socks. Also, athlete’s foot medication.”

Apparently, soldiers rarely got to take off their footwear on the battlefield.

On top of that, leather boots became incredibly stuffy.

I wore boots made of Gore-Tex, but even so, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Come to think of it, there was a 99 percent chance that the soldiers all had athlete’s foot.

However, Lady Clara, who could use ice-cooling magic, was completely unaffected by such things.

As expected of my perfect master.

“I’d hate for my feet to start itching. I’ll buy a high-strength one at a drugstore.”

“If I were there, I could just treat it with magic, though.”

Recovery magic worked on athlete’s foot too?!

Somehow, that didn’t sound very fantasy-like.

“Senpai, wouldn’t it be a good idea to have a drone with a camera for scouting purposes too?”

“That sounds convenient, but I think charging it would be an issue.”

While I didn’t know the specifics, the flight time per charge probably wasn’t very long.

There was the option of mounting solar panels and a portable power supply onto a carriage, though…

“I think we should bring it along without skimping on the budget and effort to set up a power source.”

Yoshioka’s eyes were deadly serious.

Though it would weigh over five kilograms, he mentioned there were portable power supplies with a capacity of around 3.7V 170,000mAh.

“Alright. I’ll make sure to buy it, so I’ll be relying on your advice.”

When I said that, Yoshioka showed a relieved smile.

One way or another, I always ended up causing Yoshioka to worry.

It was probably best to accept Yoshioka’s suggestions as much as possible.

I returned to my own apartment in Japan.

Since we had been summoned from different locations last time, Yoshioka wasn’t here.

He should be at his own home right now.

The time was 4:00 PM.

From here, we were going to split into two groups to go shopping.

I turned on my smartphone so I could be reached at any time.

After checking the contents of my wallet, I changed my clothes.

As usual, Tokyo was still stuck at the very end of the year.

I pulled out a down coat and threw it on.

My cell phone received an email.

I wondered if it was Yoshioka.

—I have submitted the divorce papers. Just letting you know for now.

It was from Emi.

Receiving it made me deeply feel, over such a trivial matter, that I had truly returned to Japan.

—Understood.

I replied with just that.

In Japan, today was December 28th.

A span of eight days had passed since the two of us broke up.

To me, however, it already felt like something from three months ago.

Yes, within my mind, winter had already ended.

Saxens was completely in the middle of spring.

The same went for the inside of my heart.

I felt like my email might have been a bit too curt, but I was busy too.

For Lady Clara’s sake, I intended to risk my life to stay by her side, but I had no intention of slacking off on the effort to keep myself alive.

Well, now that I had developed this kind of relationship with Lady Clara, I didn’t hold any lingering grudges against Emi at this point.

If she had filed the divorce papers, then that was fine.

Maybe I should have written something like “Thank you”?

Thrusting the phone into the pocket of my down coat, I hailed a taxi on the street.

I told the driver to take me to Akihabara.

A short while after the car started moving, another email arrived.

—Could you please make time for us to meet once? I would like to split the joint savings account we kept fifty-fifty.

It was money I didn’t care about at all, but from Emi’s perspective, it was probably something she couldn’t leave unaddressed.

It might make her feel restless, as if she were holding onto someone else’s money.

I wished she would just donate it somewhere, but I thought it wouldn’t be right to make Emi, who was now a stranger, handle that.

Thinking about it, I let out a wry smile at how loose I had become with my spending.

In the past, I wouldn’t have used a taxi for a trip of this distance.

I would have walked to Yotsuya Station and taken the Chuo Line to Akihabara.

—Please transfer the money to the following account. There is no rush, so whenever you have some free time is fine.

As for your request to meet once, my schedule is currently tightly packed. There will be times when I am not in Japan. If a few months pass and you still feel the need to meet me, Miss Shinfu, please contact me then.

By that time, Emi’s feelings would probably have settled down too.

And she would realize that our lives had already begun to move forward, never to cross paths again.

By the time I finished sending the email, the taxi had already arrived just before Akihabara Station.

In the living room of her apartment, Emi Shinfu clutched her smartphone, waiting for a reply to her email.

She thought about doing something while she waited, but without a single idea coming to mind, time slipped away until the ringtone chimed.

The response that came back was a mere one word: “Understood.”

Her chest ached slightly.

This was the current relationship between herself and Kota, and she was the one who had caused it.

She worried once again about whether Kota was doing alright.

She had heard through the grapevine that Kota had quit the company.

She had tried contacting Yoshioka, Kota’s junior whom he had been close with, but no reply had come back.

It seemed she was being ignored.

Originally, Kota wasn’t the type to work passionately.

He did his job properly, but he had no desire for promotions; she felt he was someone who preferred to live for his hobbies as much as possible.

Perhaps that was where they had been incompatible.

Emi had a strong desire for upward mobility and was the type to find joy in achieving grand things.

The man she had newly fallen for was of the same breed.

She figured there might not be any deep meaning behind his quitting the company either.

But still…

Emi intended to move out of this apartment where she had lived with Kota.

She planned to dedicate the New Year’s holiday to sorting through her belongings.

Lacking the motivation to resume packing, Emi wrote one more email.

Even though it was strange of her to care, she wanted to know how Kota was doing.

Reading the email that came back a while later, Emi let out a long sigh.

She didn’t know the reason for the tears that began to flow.

Guilt?

A sense of loss?

Even she thought she was being selfish.

“Let’s clean up quickly,” she voiced her determination aloud.

Surely, her ex-husband, who had left with nothing but his own body, was the one in the right.

It was probably wisest to quickly reset and begin a new life.

Forgetting even to wipe away her overflowing tears, Emi packed the traces of her life with Kota into trash bags one after another.